Photobook: First International Trip Together, Thanks to Hubby's Company!
I had shared our story before on how we were able to fly together to Taiwan in 2019, you might want to check these stories in the following articles:
I hope you were able to read some of these trips. Today, I'd like to share with you the photobook I made out of these travels. Thank God for my husband's employer for pampering their employees so much, especially those who had been with the company for more than five years.
The first time we joined this travel perk was in 2019, we hope to join again in the next years. In 2020, we missed their Malaysia trip because I was pregnant and there was this COVID scare.
The photobook is again the 8x6 inches size softcover one, this was I believe not in matte paper, it was a little glossy, I forgot what I had selected during the ordering process. To those who are interested in making a photobook, there's a way for you to pay only the shipping fees which will be around Php 190 to 300 depending on the size of the photobook. You will have to look for discount vouchers. I usually buy them at Metrodeal but I guess there are also shops in Shopee which offers the same, I paid only Php 20 for the 6x6 size while Php 299 for the 8x6 size.
The above cover photo was taken in Taipei's National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, every couple photo we take, we use our phone as a remote control, we were using our trusty Panasonic GX-85 camera here.
On our first day arriving in Taipei, we walked around the city, we took a lot of photos which is why in my Appics account, I have not yet finished posting those photos. There's a walking district in Taipei, we had been walking from morning until evening. We had a food trip at Ximending Night Market and on the second day, we went to the Maokong Gondola, took a cable car ride, and had a great view of the cityscape. We reached a quaint place and had seen the cherry blossoms, that was the first time that we have seen one.
We had the most expensive tea experience there and we had a taste as well of their street foods! Then we headed to Taipei Zoo as well!
By the way, it was my first time also adding texts and calligraphy to a photobook. I added them to every specific place that we visited. I made sure that the photobook will contain the photos not in a random sequence but based on which area we had been to first and so on.
It was an amazing zoo, it was huge but the highlight there was when we saw cute pandas eating bamboo on our way out of the zoo. There's a lot of space in the zoo that we were able to take photos together in an open area with huge trees beside us.
On the third day, we spent it on a tour to Yehliu Geopark where there were so many tourists around but this place shows different mushroom-like rock formations caused by the seawater and waves, there's even a rock there that's called queen's head and people line up just to take photos of it.
Then we also went to Shifen Old Street where there were paper lanterns to buy and fly for wishes. Aside from paper lanterns, we also found bamboo pieces hanged around the area which as well bear wishes from tourists and locals alike.
Flying a lantern costs some bucks though depending on the color, we didn't fly anything, we just watched the others do it.
After Shifen, we went to Jiufen which is an old gold mining location, it was so famous before because it was a rich city but when the gold had run out, it was left out and became a tourist spot. Still, its beauty is just mesmerizing, it is overlooking the coast. We had a food trip as well in Jiufen, my favorite was their peanut ice cream roll!
Did I mention that we stayed in a hotel named Papa Whale Hotel? It was nice that the husband's employer gave us private rooms if traveling as a couple. Our room was really pretty with a huge 50-inch television, fridge, and working desk, and the highlight was the transparent shower room. The first night, I didn't know that my husband was watching me from the bed! Oops! He was laughing after I got out of the shower!
On our fourth day, we had a city hop-in hop-out bus tour. It was a cool experience getting in and out of a bus for free. We went to different areas in the city like the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, and a few parks, we even had the chance to get inside Taipei 101 which was a one-of-a-kind experience getting to the top floor in just a few seconds!
Our night ended with a treat from the bosses, a seafood buffet at the hotel's restaurant. Also, I forgot to mention that we had a complimentary hotpot for breakfast every single day!
On our last day in Taipei, we were allowed to go wherever we wanted as our flight was at five in the afternoon, the checkout time was at 12 noon so we had the entire morning to roam around. My husband and I went to their IT district and we bought our first SSD. Then we also went to craft stores and I bought many paper and stickers for my journal.
It was a great experience and we are forever grateful to Arcanys for making our first international trip together, a memorable one. We hope to be able to travel again soon with Matti this time!
xoxo,
momentswithmatti
Mother | Boholana | Cebu | Philippines | Travel | Photography Enthusiast | Calligraphy | Art | Crypto Noob
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